Drumgold case soon headed to the jury

The lawyers involved in a high-profile civil rights trial in federal court told U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner that, after a month of testimony, they are prepared to deliver closing arguments.

The case is believed to mark one of the first times in Massachusetts that a federal jury has been asked to hear a wrongful conviction case based on a civil rights claim

In 1988, Drumgold was arrested in connection with the shooting death of 12-year-old Tiffany Moore, who was killed by gang crossfire while sitting on a mailbox in Roxbury.
Drumgold was eventually tried and convicted of the murder in 1989. Defendant detectives Richard Walsh and Timothy Callahan investigated the case.

At the conclusion of an evidentiary hearing in 2003, then-Suffolk homicide chief David E. Meier moved to vacate the conviction after finding that the evidence established that Drumgold “did not receive a fair trial.”

Superior Court Judge Barbara J. Rouse then granted Drumgold’s motion for a new trial after finding that “justice was not done” and the “system had failed.”

Meier subsequently entered a nolle proseque, which ended the case.

Although a different jury in May found in favor of the detectives on 10 of 11 counts, it told Gertner that it was unable to reach a verdict on a claim that Callahan had failed to disclose that he gave money to a critical trial witness.

That witness, Ricky Evans, had testified that he saw Drumgold in close proximity to the street corner where Moore was murdered.

Today’s announcement that the trial will soon be in the hands of the jury came minutes after Meier, a well-respected trial attorney who now practices at Todd & Weld in Boston, was called to the stand to testify about his involvement in the post-trial proceedings.

During three hours of contentious questioning from both sides, Meier, who was not involved in the original trial, was asked to explain certain facts surrounding the 2003 motion.

“My objective wasn’t to determine who it was that paid Mr. Evans, or whether he was paid at all,” Meier testified. “It was to determine, based upon the facts and the law, whether or not in my professional judgment Mr. Drumgold had received a fair trial.”

Closing arguments are expected tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.

If the jury concludes that Callahan violated Drumgold’s rights, it will then be asked to decide whether the city and former Police Commissioner Francis M. Roache are responsible. At that point, the court would conduct a third trial on damages.